Police: Stadium roof collapses, people trapped

[July 07, 2011]  ENSCHEDE, Netherlands (AP) -- A section of a Dutch soccer stadium collapsed during off-season renovations Thursday, trapping people underneath, police said.

No match was being played at the FC Twente stadium. Local newspaper De Twentsche Courant reported on its website that at least five people were injured in the accident.

The official number of victims was not immediately clear.

"People are trapped, but we don't know how many," police spokesman Jan Lamberts told The Associated Press.

Part of the roof caved in around midday (1000 GMT). Photos posted on local news websites showed a large section of the roof had crashed onto a bank of red seats behind one of the goals.

Phones at the club went unanswered. The team, Dutch national champion in 2010, was believed to be training elsewhere at the time of the collapse.

Twente is in the third qualifying round of next season's Champions League and is scheduled to host a match at the stadium on July 26-27 or Aug. 2-3. The exact date will be decided next week.

[Associated Press]

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